The punch came on a supposed box-out attempt. Clippers forward Matt Barnes launched (and made) a three-pointer from the corner, which pulled the Clippers to down three as the Thunder's big lead melted away. Griffin got position on Ibaka, who dropped his hand into the front of Griffin's shorts to drop the All-Star.

"I didn't see it to where it was like that flagrant. (Griffin) took (Ibaka's) arm and knocked him down. The dude (is) known for flopping anyway, so that's what it is," Thunder's Kendrick Perkins told USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick after the game. "I was (angry). The (Clippers') reaction after that was kind of like Serge Ibaka against Blake Griffin.

"He ain't going to get the benefit of (the doubt) or what's really happening down there. You ain't seeing all the stuff that other people are doing. Serge ends up getting the bad end of the stick. I didn't like the whole thing - period. I thought it should've been a double foul."

Ibaka was called for a flagrant 1 foul, meaning he stayed in the game. He proceeded to make a big layup, convert the free throw after Griffin fouled him and throw in a huge block on a Barnes layup.

"He hit my hands away," Ibaka told reporters. "He's strong, so when he grabs you, your jersey or whatever, and you try to defend yourself and rebound. So maybe you can do some move, not to hurt, (but) just to get good position. But then something happens where you get hurt in the paint. It's not anything where I want to try to hurt him. I'm not that kind of person. I just try to play hard, and that's it."

Basically, the Thunder wouldn't have won Sunday's game without Ibaka's clutch play down the stretch. The stretch he probably should have been barred from playing because that foul was ridiculous.

"I just tried to play hard. I really don't care if someone is dirty or not, that's not my problem," Ibaka said. "His game was intense, we all were complaining to the referees (about) some dirty stuff. It's basketball. We just played.

"If you can see the replay, you can see he grabbed my jersey first so I wanted to try to defend myself. (But) not to hurt him."